Answers, Queries

Lord Eric Reginald Avebury, the man behind the poll, has become controversial on both sides. He has had a long history of taking a strongly pro-Pakistani position, a stand from which he has taken several steps back in recent years. For that reason, the Pakistanis see him as now becoming more pro-Indian. Lord Avebury himself sees it rather differently. "There is no conspiracy of any kind," Lord Avebury told Outlook. "We had no idea what the answers would be when we began. It was an attempt to discover what the people of Kashmir are thinking about these important issues."

The survey in Kashmir Valley, Jammu and Leh showed that 61 per cent would rather see Kashmir as a part of India than of Pakistan. The vast majority thought the solution lay through democratic elections, though in Srinagar area that proposition won a slim majority of 52 per cent. "Some replies were reasonably obvious, some were a little more surprising," Lord Avebury says. Like the view of 36 per cent that war is the answer. The poll was conducted in April and now "many might think differently", Lord Avebury cautions.